TEX Trainners

Karen Peiser
Karen is the volunteer ESL Coordinator at Literacy Connexus and the Director of ESL Ministry at Southland Baptist Church in San Angelo. There she teaches ESL classes and tutors students to get their Citizenship. Karen has 25 years of ESL teaching under her belt and has 3 of her own workshops. Before she taught ESL she was a Missionary in New York City and studied French in Paris, France in 1961. In 2010 Karen was awarded volunteer of the year by Literacy Texas

Kathleen Yarborough
Kathleen Yarborough is the Director of Community Ministries at West University Baptist and Crosspoint Church in Houston, TX. She leads the ESL ministry and coordinates the local mission efforts. Kathleen began teaching ESL in 2001 and has served as a volunteer teacher and program director and full time staff. She has also taught English in China for several summer programs with high school students. Kathleen is a trainer with Literacy ConneXus which assists faith based programs in developing ESL and literacy programs and training teachers. She is married to her husband Steve who both cooks AND cleans and has a basset hound baby whose name she cannot tell you or she would have to reset all her passwords…
Angela Garcia
I am an apprentice trainer for Literacy Connexus in the Houston area. I have been with Literacy Connexus for 2 years. I have been an ESL teacher for the past 7 years in public schools. I am currently teaching high school ESOL, English Language Development, and Reading. I graduated with a Masters in TESOL from University of Saint Thomas in 2019. I am currently working on a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction. I have two adult children. My daughter attends the University of Houston and my son attends Maine Maritime Academy so I have been blessed to travel to Maine. We enjoy camping and doing things together as a family.

Katie Welch
An active contributor in the ESL community, Dr. Katie Welch not only has taught in faith-based ESL settings as a volunteer, but also professionally trains ESL teachers for both adult and K-12 classrooms. Katie currently serves on the Executive Board of TexTESOLV, an affiliate of TESOL International that serves the Dallas-Fort Worth region of Texas. She led the Board of Directors as conference chair of the 2018 state ESL conference and has presented at numerous conferences nationwide.

Connie Anthony

Matthew Johnston
Matthew Johnston has been an ESOL Instructional Specialist at Dallas College since 2016. One of his favorite recent projects is developing a listening/speaking class that integrates leadership training and Project Based Learning, which culminates in student-created leadership portfolios and a service project. Another fun project in the midst of a challenging pandemic is a monthly ‘news’ video for my ESOL department. Many years ago, while studying for a Masters in Global Leadership from Dallas Baptist University, I was an intern at Literacy ConneXus, and I am so glad to be back. I am excited to be an apprentice trainer and help churches serve their communities through ESL.
Cyndy Kilpatrick
